If you've ever filled out a ballot at an Oscar party, then you've probably felt your eyes glaze over when you got to the Short Film categories. Live Action What? Animated Who Now? When it comes to these races, there's usually nothing to do but guess.
Until now! Behold... a guide to all ten of this year's Oscar-nominated short films! (Fictional films, that is. I haven't seen the short documentaries.) Use this as your guide, and you'll get a leg up on everyone else at your Oscar party.
And of course, let me encourage you to see these films if you have a chance. All of them are interesting, and some of them are brilliant. Taken together, they demonstrate how vital short films can be.
Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures are currently presenting all of this year's nominees in a single event that's screening throughout the country. Use this website to see if it's playing at a theater near you.
And now... on with the guide!
Best Short Film, Live Action
(1) The Door, written and directed by Juanita Wilson
The Plot: In the aftermath of Chernobyl, a father tries to ease his daughter's final days by salvaging a piece of their former home.
Why It Might Win: This elegant piece could only work as a short film, since it's essentially a sustained exercise in mood. Yes, small things happen---a family leaves its home, one character gets sick, another commits a crime---but it's clear that the big thing, the Disaster, has already taken place. It's like seeing the last scene of a tragedy, when all that's left to do is tidy up what remains of the house. Wilson renders this melancholy with grace.
Why It Might Not Win: Even though I appreciate the actionless poetry, I'm not exactly captivated by it. The movie is pretty and spare, but it's also a little cold.
(2) Instead of Abracadabra, written and directed by Patrik Eklund (** My Pick to Win**)
The Plot: Tomas is a twenty-five year-old (Swedish) slacker who lives at home with his parents and absolutely believes he is going to be the world's next great magician. After a mishap with a sword introduces him to a cute local nurse, he decides to start performing more often so that the world (and his sweetheart) can realize his greatness.
Why It Might Win: Um... because it rules? On paper, this movie sounds like a Swedish rip-off of Napoleon Dynamite and every other awkward comedy of the last ten years, but in practice, it's charming, generous, and belly-laugh funny. I especially love Tomas' parents. In just a few scenes, we see that his mother is a sweet woman who has decided it's her solemn duty to support her child's dreams. I was charmed by her joy as she helps him practice his tricks (even when they backfire.) Tomas' father, meanwhile, gets a great speech about why he prefers karaoke to magic, and it made me feel like I understood his role in his family. A short that can make even its supporting characters this interesting is doing something special.
Why It Might Not Win: It's possible the voters will see all the quirk and none of the substance, but I doubt it.
(3) Kavi, written and directed by Gregg Helvey
The Plot: Kavi, a young Indian boy, is held in indentured servitude, forced to make bricks alongside his parents. When he tries to interact with a group of schoolboys, he pays an awful price.
Why It Might Win: Helvey takes Kavi on a clear journey, from innocent kid to disillusioned rebel to slightly hopeful survivor. The fact that it's about the Big Political Issue of modern-day slavery could boost its chances.
Why It Might Not Win: The film's self-righteousness could make a Baptist preacher roll his eyes. And since Slumdog Millionaire just swept the Oscars for covering similar ground, the Academy will probably look elsewhere for important issues.
(4) Miracle Fish, written and directed by Luke Doolan
The Plot: An Australian elementary school student falls asleep in the nurse's office at his school, and when he wakes up, everyone is gone.
Why It Might Win: It might win because of the reason everyone is gone. The storytelling in this movie is crackerjack, but I can't say anything else without spoiling it.
Why It Might Not Win: As far as I can tell, the only drawback is that it isn't as lovable as Instead of Abracadabra. Still, it's a dark horse.
(5) The New Tenant, directed by Joachim Back; adapted by David Rakoff from a story by Anders Thomas Jensen
The Plot: Two men have just moved into an apartment where the previous tenant was murdered. Whoops! Turns out the dead guy left behind some unfinished business (and some heroin in the kitchen.)
Why It Might Win: Vincent D'Onofrio is in it, and since he's the only famous person in any of these films, people might just vote for the actor they recognize.
Why It Might Not Win: It's trying so hard to be nihilistic and edgy and cool that you can practically smell the American Spirits it smoked before it ironically drank a Capri Sun through a bendy straw.
Best Short Film, Animated
(1) French Roast, written and directed by Fabrice O. Joubert
The Plot: A businessman orders coffee in a cafe, then realizes that he's forgotten his wallet. He keeps ordering coffee until he can figure out what to do, and because he sticks around, he ends up in the middle of a crime caper.
Why It Might Win: The stop motion animation is lovely, especially on the characters' expressive faces. Joubert's writing has a sweet sense of humor.
Why It Might Not Win: The pace drags, and the storytelling gets muddy. (How could that nun stay in the bathroom for hours without anyone noticing?) It doesn't feature Wallace and Gromit.
(2) Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, directed by Nicky Phelan; written by Kathleen O'Rourke
The Plot: When an Irish grandmother tells her own, fractured version of "Sleeping Beauty," she unwittingly terrifies her granddaughter.
Why It Might Win: Where to begin? O'Rourke's vocal performance as the grandmother is hilarious, and her script is anti-ageist without being preachy. Phelan elegantly blends two styles of animation---Tim Burton stop-motion for the kid's bedroom, old-tyme Disney storybook for the fairy tale world---and he knows just when to kick up a music cue for maximum effect. This movie is utterly charming.
Why It Might Not Win: It doesn't feature Wallace and Gromit. But really, it's so great that it might upset the Nick Park dynasty.
The Plot: An elderly woman is trying to kick the bucket and join her dead husband in heaven, but a do-gooder doctor fights with the Grim Reaper in order to keep her alive.
Why It Might Win: The animation is fun, the slapstick sequences are a hoot (especially in that wall of filing cabinets), and since it's an animated story that involves an old married couple, it could inspire favorable comparisons to Up.
Why It Might Not Win: Unlike the other films in the category, the writing has few surprises: Gracia just keeps riffing on the same basic joke about the old lady getting literally pulled between two worlds. It doesn't feature Wallace and Gromit.
(4) Logorama, written and directed by H5
The Plot: A bank heist turns violent in a surreal Los Angeles where everything---every building, person, plant and animal---is a recognizable brand logo. (The bank robber is Ronald McDonald, for instance, and the cops are Michelin men.)
Why It Might Win: The folks at H5 studio have made a visually breathtaking work that turns a gimmicky concept into a fully-realized universe. It's mind-tickling fun to discover how they've incorporated each brand. (Personal favorite: When a waitress spills coffee at a diner, it hits the floor and turns into the Nickelodeon splat.) There are plenty of people involved in the Hollywood machine who will cheer a movie that so blatantly criticizes America's media culture, particularly when an earthquake swallows Los Angeles. Voting for this movie could make those people feel cool.
Why It Might Not Win: As visual artists, the filmmakers dazzle. As writers, they commit the unforgivable sin of thinking they're smarter than we are. Their nasty, condescending script implies that our minds should be blown by their insight that corporations have a stranglehold on American culture. Yet for all this arrogance, they take groaningly obvious shots at Enron, McDonald's, and Halliburton. Yeah, guys. We know. Get over yourselves. (Also, it doesn't feature Wallace and Gromit.)
(5) Wallace & Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death, directed by Nick Park; written by Park and Bob Baker. (**My Pick to Win**)
The Plot: In their latest caper, Wallace and Gromit are working as bakers... and it just so happens that a serial killer is murdering all the bakers in town! When a seductive former model for a bread company starts cozying up to Wallace, only Gromit suspects that something might be amiss.
Why It Might Win: Nick Park has won four Academy Awards, and three of them were for Wallace and Gromit titles. The Academy likes him so much that it even gave him the animated feature Oscar for the full-length W&G movie Curse of the Were-Rabbit, which means he's the highest-profile nominee in this category. It helps, too, that Loaf and Death is clever, lovable, and funny, and that its story is the most fleshed-out of all the competitors here. If Park does win, then I certainly won't complain.
Why It Might Not Win: Voters might think Park's got enough Oscars, which could let Granny or Logorama sneak up to the podium.
For more, join me at The Critical Condition